Lights
by sbyamibakura
Summary: Shinsuke Nakamura/Sami Zayn, set immediately post-Takeover: San Antonio. Part Eight of Unmei. He stops struggling, looking over at Shinsuke, who waits quietly and patiently. Lover? Partner? Soulmate? The literal other half to himself? How could he even *begin* to try and explain what Shinsuke meant, and was, to him?


Lights

By: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: The wrestlers own themselves, the gimmicks are owned by WWE/NXT. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Pairing: Shinsuke Nakamura/Sami Zayn, mentions of past Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn.

Setting: Immediately post-Takeover: San Antonio.

Summary: He stops struggling, looking over at Shinsuke, who waits quietly and patiently. Lover? Partner? Soulmate? The literal other half to himself? How could he even _begin_ to try and explain what Shinsuke meant, and was, to him?

Part Eight of _Unmei_.

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"Let me through!" He yells, trying to push aside the trainers and refs who grab onto him.

"Sami, come on!" One of the ref's says.

"I'm not here to _hurt_ him! You don't understand!" He shouts, tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. " _You don't understand! He's my_ -" He stops struggling, looking over at Shinsuke, who waits quietly and patiently. Lover? Partner? Soulmate? The literal other half to himself? How could he even _begin_ to try and explain what Shinsuke meant, and was, to him? "He's my _husband!"_

Shinsuke looks at him with wide eyes, as do the others around them both, but his expression changes into a much softer one. The look on his face makes Sami's heart thump into overtime. They both ignore the others who leave the room, making exclamations and some with congratulations (he vaguely thought about the fact that his and Shinsuke's relationship would probably be spread to everyone by the time they left the arena but he really couldn't find it in himself to care right now.)

He comes to a halt right in front of the doctor like long seat that Shinsuke was sitting on, looking down at him. Shinsuke gestures to him with a hand and a smile, despite the pain he must be in, and just like that, Sami is on his knees in front of him, arms wrapped around him (kneeling carefully, even in the state he was in, between Shinsuke's legs so he wouldn't further hurt him) and feels the other man's arms around him in return.

"I love you." He murmurs, voice blurred with emotion, against Shinsuke's stomach and feels his arms tighten around him in return.

"I love you too. _My husband."_ Shinsuke says warmly. His hand strokes Sami's head and he closes his eyes against the warm touch, longing filling him, as it so often did. Shinsuke knew how to make him feel better, even now, when it should be _Sami_ that was making _him_ feel better.

"I'm sorry." He says, arms tightening around him.

"For what?" Shinsuke asks softly, continuing to stroke his head.

"I should be comforting _you_ , not...not letting you do this for me. I'm sorry." He kisses Shinsuke's stomach carefully, feeling the man's stomach jerk in return.

Shinsuke starts to laugh loudly. He looks up at him, breath catching at the utterly _fond_ smile on his soulmate's face. Shinsuke's hand moves from his head to his face, cupping it.

"My heart," Shinsuke says. "Do you not see the comforting you are doing for me now? I needed you and you were here. I always need you. Your presence is my comfort."

Their lips meet, Sami's fast and desperate, Shinsuke's soft and loving. As always, it's in these moments, outside of wrestling, where he truly feels _complete._ Like all the hardships he had went through to get to this point were worth it. They _were_ , because he had finally found a place where he truly belonged, found the person whom never treated him as less or treated him as secondary to anyone else. He didn't have to fight for any scrap of affection; Shinsuke gave his affection, and his love, freely.

Even without telling him everything, Shinsuke just _knew_ what he had been through before, with Kevin. Knew how Kevin had twisted the love Sami had for him, the love they had for _each other_ , and abandoned him. After that, that betrayal, Sami hadn't ever thought he could ever love again, much less _like_ someone. That he could learn to trust again (' _It's fine, Sami._ " _Kevin says, a distant look in his eyes. 'Once we beat the Bucks, everything will be like it was before. We'll be...we'll be fine.')_

Shinsuke had waited patiently, despite how long _he_ had waited for Sami, and bit by bit, Sami started to feel like a human being again. And now? Now he was _whole_.

The kiss deepens and he hears Shinsuke make a sound of agreement against him and everything is forgotten in that moment; the pain, the worry, the sadness, all of it. It is only him and Shinsuke in that moment. Eventually the need for air pulls them both apart mutually, with Shinsuke placing his forehead against Sami's as they work to catch their breath. Shinsuke laughs softly.

"What is it?" He asks.

Shinsuke smiles a secret little smile. "I suppose we will need to get rings and paperwork now since you proposed to me. But," he teases. "could you not have picked a better place to do so?"

Sami flushes, before teasing him back. "Well, at least we'll never look at the trainers room the same way again."

Shinsuke laughs.

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"Are you sure you're okay?" He asks his partner, with a bit of worry in his tone.

Shinsuke nods. "I am fine for now."

Indeed he did look fine; he was even walking on his own two feet, holding hands with Sami the whole way out of their and back to their hotel room. He continues to look fine, even when they get inside, starting to shed his red jacket, his shirt, sitting on the bed to toss his boots to the floor. Sami stares at him. How was he alright? He had _felt_ it, a shadow of it anyhow, of the pain Shinsuke felt when hurting his knee during the match with Roode. He knew, even by just looking at his lover's face then, that the pain was real and had to be excruciating.

But now he sat here seemingly without a care in the world, perfectly fine.

He looks down at him, hands on his hips. " _How_ are you fine, exactly?"

Shinsuke looks up at him, brow raised. "Hmm?"

"It's just, you were," He gestures at Shinsuke's legs with a hand. "You know. And Roode didn't help matters either with the submission after."

Shinsuke smiles. "Oh I see. I am sure I will feel it tomorrow. But for now..." He shrugs a bit, hands out. He looks at Sami. "I am okay, thanks to you."

"Me?" He asks, confused. "What did _I_ do?"

Shinsuke stands, moving to cup Sami's face in his hands with care, as if he is a priceless treasure.

"You have accepted me completely now, with your whole heart and soul. When you called me your _husband_ , it came from your heart. Things like they..." Shinsuke pauses, obviously trying to find the right words to say. "They can do special things, between those who are bonded. You gave me your...power, I suppose you could say. It is numbing the pain for me now. It will fade in a few hours, but for now I am in no pain." He leans forward to kiss Sami tenderly. "For now, I am, as I will always be, all yours."

He was a bit stunned, to say the least. He had no idea that things like that could happen, but then again he was just learning the little and big nuances when it came to soulmates and what that entailed. No one he knew, save for perhaps Bray, knew as much when it came to soulmates than Shinsuke so he knew he could trust his word on it.

He stays close when they finally pull apart again.

"I felt your pain." He murmurs. "Or at least a shadow of it. I've never felt that before."

"For good reason." Shinsuke says. "I have always kept you from feeling it. This time I...the pain was too great, so I could not, which I am sorry for."

"You can do that?" Shinsuke nods. "I had no idea. I would have-"

Shinsuke stops him with a hand, shaking his head. "You didn't know and even if you had, I would not expect you to know how to do it."

"That doesn't matter." He insists. "I don't care how much it would take to do; I would do it for you in a heartbeat. To keep you from feeling pain or sadness or..." He swallows hard. "I want to be your equal, your partner, in all things."

Shinsuke frowns. "I have insulted you. I apologize, Sami. I meant no disrespect. Because you already _are_ my equal. You always _have_ been, since before we even met. I have waited my entire life for you. And you did not meet my expectations. You _exceeded_ them. I am just so used to having to do things on my own," He strokes Sami's face. "I am still getting used to having you _here_ , with me, that I do not always think as clearly as I should. You make me happier than I could have even imagined I could be."

Sami flushes. Shinsuke was always so elequent with his words, that it often left him flustered. He just said things so _easily_ , without blinking an eye, and never made Sami feel weak or lesser than or _not enough_ , like Sami had felt once upon a long time ago with Kevin, and he was still getting used to that fact, to be treated like a true equal.

"So, _husband_ ," Shinsuke says, slyly. "What now?"

He looks at Shinsuke there, all happy and smiling and full of love for _Sami_ that Sami thinks he could burst with the love he feels for him in return. Shinsuke was the light of his life.

"Well..." He drawls, in a teasing tone. "You said you're good until tomorrow, right?"

Shinsuke nods.

Sami grins. "I can think of something we can do for a few hours."

He pushes him onto the bed, kissing him hard, and proceeds to do just that.

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I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


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